Mrs. Wow and I started working out in the morning. I started riding my bike 12 miles each way to work. We started eating less, and eating healthier. I even started eating just a bowl of fruit in the morning, rather than the sugary cereal I was having previously.

Throughout that time both Mr. 1500 and I tracked our progress, we updated each other everyFridaymorning. Religiously.

Towards the end Mr. 1500 decided to go with the nuclear option: Soylent to replace meals. I think I would rather starve, that’s just plain repulsing.

The competition continued until October, then we went dark. We would learn the final outcome once we saw each other in person.

We were really close

So, what happened in October?

First, we went to Chautauqua. Which was a great trip, but around the third day I started to notice something. As person after person figured out that we wrote this blog, they started being really friendly to me. People were buying me drinks, and offering me pie, and getting me all sorts of goodies. I started to smell a rat. This just didn’t make sense, these were all folks that I just met, and by definition they are all cheap-asses, yet they’re buying me goodies left and right?

Come to find out, that dirty Mr. 1500 had enrolled some of his minions to feed me beers and other calorie dense sustenance while we were traveling. It was like some sort of FI version of the Bourne Identity. I was being singled out, and hunted.

This was pretty clever, I’ll admit it. While I knew it would be difficult to behave on the trip, I didn’t anticipate having to fight off all these new “friends”. Bastard!!!

Apparently, he wanted to play, so play we did.

Luckily, I made a few friends of my own, winning over some of his devious stooges sent to sabotage my progress. I had some folks find out his home address. Then I found a nice local pizza delivery store in the town they live in. I figured some tiramisu, brownies, and cheesecake would make a nice welcome addition to their meal, so I ordered them some dessert. From Ecuador. For his birthday (wink wink), of course!

Once I finally got to talk the the 1500’s, Mr. 1500 recalled the evening of the crime:

We got this knock on the door and kind of looked at each other confused. I went and opened it to find a delivery guy. I told him I didn’t order anything and he must have the wrong house. He asked if the name was right on the order, and it was. He said it was for my birthday, and I told him it’s not my birthday. I asked who sent it. I didn’t recognize the name, but said thanks and took the bag. Once I shut the door, I talked to Mrs. 1500 about it. Then it dawned on me, “That F*cker!” I knew it was you! Mrs. 1500 couldn’t stop laughing, and her and our kids really enjoyed the treats that evening.

I fail to believe his self control is strong enough to avoid the siren’s song of those glorious desserts, especially given the steady diet of liquid garbage he was pumping into his gut.

Two more weeks pass, Mrs. Wow and I packed up and headed to Dallas for the main event. We went to the conference, and tracked down the 1500’s. Everyone kept asking when the weigh in was, and how we were going to accomplish it. The conference was filled with snacks that were stealthily handed back and forth between Mr. 1500 and me. Until, we both reached a breaking point. We needed beers, we had to weigh in, then and there. We went up to the hotel gym looking for a scale. No dice. No weigh in.

We kept postponing it. The week progressed much as you would expect from two degenerates with minimal self control. We ended up drinking until 3am, enjoying copious amounts of BBQ and generally undoing the previous 3 months of work.

We were supposed to do a live weigh in at FinCon, but neither of us had the forethought to bring a scale. Alas, there was no weigh in, no culmination of the event that had been ongoing publicly for months.

Upon returning home, the following Friday morning, I got up and weighed myself. I threw caution and my self esteem to the wind and put myself out there:

Yes, I won!

I’ll say it again, I’ll shout it from the roof tops. I like the sound of it, even if that sound is the clickity-clack of me typing: I W-I-N. Still has a nice feeling to it.

What did I win?

A guest post from Mr.1500 for WafflesOnWednesday. We’ll figure out when and about what, but you, our dear loyal readers, will be graced with his pearls of wisdom and comical banter.

A growler of beer from a local brewery. As it turns out, we will be their area sometime soon, so I’ll collect at that point. [I throughly enjoyed the Wiley Roots Beer, perhaps it will be from there- Mrs. Wow]

Dinner provided by the 1500’s. Originally this was going to involve brisket, and ribs in Dallas, but since that didn’t happen, I’ll collect in conjunction with #2.

$1. This will be a glorious addition to our (and reduction of their) net worth, you know because in 10 years at 7% interest it will be worth $2, and then in 20 years… $4!!!

As it turns out, I might have won the contest, but I didn’t win the war. I went into the Dr. for a cold before Dallas. I came out with suggestions that my BMI is too high. Apparently, I’m still obese??

Lose 22 lbs & I need eating and exercise advice.

What Did I Learn?

I need to put a little more forethought into things. A scale would have been helpful in Dallas.

Small changes can have a huge impact. We (the Wow’s) made a couple small changes. We cut down on our portion sizes, we started working out in the morning, and we started biking. This resulted in losing 10% of my body weight in 3 months. Not bad for someone not on the Biggest Loser.

Make small changes that you can keep up with. We changed small things and those small changes have actually stuck with us. Just like budgeting, saving and investing. It just becomes habit, and you can make those habits good or bad. Pro Tip: Try to make them good.

Challenge yourself because even if you fail, you’ll still win. I know I came out on top in this little challenge, but had I not, I would have still lost over 20 lbs and felt better than I had in a long time. Mr. 1500 lost almost 15 lbs, is that really losing? (pun fully intended. HA!)

What’s Next?

Mrs. Wow and I are going to challenge ourselves for the month of December and try to keep our eating out bill to under $500. It will be good for our waistbands, as well as our our wallets. After discussing it this morning, we decided to put it out in the universe so now we’ll be held accountable.

There’s also talk of a Round 2, a grudge match. Mr. 1500 and I are working out the details. It may or may not involve losing weight again. I don’t know if that is the best idea, the man is nuts. I mean technically he could chop off his left leg and win the competition. After his loss in round 1, this is a very real possibility.

Maybe this time, we’ll get other folks involved. Interested in joining something like this? Why… are you crazy?

As one of those double agents mentioned, I thoroughly enjoyed the contest and will be happy to offer my services in the future should another contest begin. Maybe my bf and I will join in with our own fitness challenges this time…. he wants to gain weight (muscle) and I would like to get in better shape. Not sure how I would quantify that yet. Keep me posted!Gwen @ Fiery Millennials recently posted…Giving Thanks 2017

Thanks. Yeah, maintaining it is going to be tricky. But it’s definitely easier to maintain than it is to change it. SO the hard work is really done. Until I fall back into the cookies and beer and bacon traps again.

As a (not really) impartial observer of some of the Chautauqua subterfuge and shenanigans related to this challenge, I highly applaud you both – you lost weight AND provided rounds of laughter and joy for the observers. May you both enjoy fine beers and good challenges in the future!

“People were buying me drinks, and offering me pie, and getting me all sorts of goodies. I started to smell a rat. This just didn’t make sense, these were all folks that I just met, and by definition they are all cheap-asses, yet they’re buying me goodies left and right?”

You…

“Then I found a nice local pizza delivery store in the town they live in. I figured some tiramisu, brownies, and cheesecake would make a nice welcome addition to their meal, so I ordered them some dessert.”

You’re both incorrigible bastards. And I love it! Thank you for penning one of the funniest posts of the year. And thank you for introducing me to Soylent. Never heard of that crap before. Anyway, you’re the best, my friend. Cheers.Mr. Groovy recently posted…SAT Smart Vs. Compound-Interest Smart

Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the story. It was funny to live through. I hope I introduced you to Soylent, and you didn’t take the plunge… Please read the link about it in the “Lessons Learned” section. It’s hilarious and had the Mrs and I in tears.

Nice job on getting the win. 10% (or even 8% for Mr. 1500) weight loss takes some work and discipline. The acts of sabotage make it even better! And those BMI charts are always telling me that I’m on the cusp of being overweight.

Man, I saw there was a competition, but didn’t realize it got so nasty. But hey, whatever works! I don’t think there were any loosers here. I might have to join your next competition just for the free beer and pizza deliveries!

Great article…
Sometimes the hardest thing for me is just getting started. Making a new habit (or ditching an old one) can look big, so I focus on just doing it – even if it isn’t perfect. I started working out last October, and now it isn’t very hard to get up and go do it, be cause it is a habit But those first weeks were hard! I kept telling myself “It’s ok if you can’t DO that much – just get up and go do ‘smething’, to get your self in a habit!”